Jamaica Cottage Shop

Hand-crafted cottages and sheds created by Vermont artisans in the post-and-beam tradition.
DOWNLOAD SALE CATALOG

SALE ENDS 1/31/22

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Mindy Fisher

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Planning the organizational flow before you start putting stuff in your garage is a helpful task that can be done fairly quickly. You can easily draft an interior set up with graph paper and a pencil. Or use your favorite graphic design software to sketch up some props to layout on your floorplan. 

 

We have created a couple quick layouts for garage and workshops with our 24×24 SIMPLE GARAGE as the example. Feel free to apply any of these layouts as inspiration for your current or future garage project. 

 

LAYOUT 1 – GARAGE AND BASIC STORAGE

 

This 24×24 garage has two bays for two vehicles. There is still plenty of room to store other stuff like bikes, kayaks, recycling and your winter tires. Shelving, a tool rack and a GARDEN CLOSET free up floor space and keep everything tidy too. 

 

LAYOUT 2 – GARAGE & WORKSHOP

 

With this set up there is space for one car, and a full sized work bench, along with shelving and racks. There might be room for other stuff, but it might be a tight squeeze if you need room to move around your workspace. If you want room for your bikes still, you will love the next layout….

 

LAYOUT 3 – GARAGE & WORKSHOP WITH BONUS STORAGE

When you add an OVERHANG or ENCLOSURE to your garage, you can create an attached outdoor storage or work space. In this example we moved the bikes and kayaks under the overhang for quick access. Plenty of workbenches create ample space for woodworking projects or car tune ups. And there is still room for one vehicle and storage for tools, recycling, winter tires and shelving. Build out a storage loft above for stashing away building materials or seasonal decorations. 

 

Want to see more layouts?

What would you put in your garage?
Let us know. 

 

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We are very proud to announce another year sponsoring the Maine Island Trail Association. According to their mission statement, they are: “dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the wild islands of coastal Maine. Members who join this association volunteer to take care of the land and trails for the enjoyment of everyone.”  In the mid 80's there were informal groups of people who were joining to take care of land and water conservation. Formed in 1988, the Maine Island Trail Association, also known as MITA, aimed to bring all of these groups together. Now, this organization efficiently coordinates the efforts of many people to keep the land and water clean.


Building a cabin on Little Chebeague Island
We can ship kits to ports. There they can be loaded onto a ferry or a large float.

Where is Little Chebeague Island?

The area covered by MITA is called The Maine Island Trail. It consists of 375 miles of coastal Maine, and you can travel this water trail by boat. With over 240 remote islands to cover, we are sure their volunteers stay busy all year long.


Last year, our sponsorship helped them purchase a 12x16 Home Office kit. This one-room cabin with a porch was very much needed to house their caretaker, Lou. Before the cabin build, he was living out of a tent year-round.


Construction of the kit took place on Little Chebeague Island in Casco Bay. Accessible by boat, or by foot via a sandbar, Little Chebeague Island connects to Great Chebeague Island. This tiny island is only 3/4 of a mile long, with forests, shrubs, and beaches.


Building a cabin on Little Chebeague Island
Kits can be loaded onto large rafts, for transporting to an island.

Special Island Delivery

Customers often ask us how to ship kits to an island. Luckily, MITA graciously shared some photos of the process. First, we delivered the kit to a port near Portland, Maine. Next, they placed the kit pallet on a work float, an oversized raft pulled by a motorboat. Also, Volunteers arrived by motorboat or paddled over in sea kayaks.


The Volunteers Were Crucial

Building a cabin on Little Chebeague Island

After the cargo arrived, volunteers lugged the kit, piece by piece, to the building site. This involved some heavy lifting. With all of the volunteer power this task was completed quickly. Working with a view of the Maine sea coast on a sunny day made it all worth it.


Once volunteers hauled the kit over to the site, others cleared and prepped the site, and started building the foundation. Then, they built the kit from start to finish, framing out the floor, walls and roof, and adding siding, roofing, windows and a door. They chose our standard Home Office which comes with pine board and batten siding and a corrugated metal roof in Evergreen.



  • Building a cabin on Little Chebeague Island
    Volunteers prepare the foundation.
  • Building a cabin on Little Chebeague Island
    Next the framing is constructed.
  • Building a cabin on Little Chebeague Island
    Finally, siding, roofing, windows and a door are installed

Overall, they spent two days transporting the kit and four days building it. Later on in the season, weatherizing and other final touches were completed. Now, Lou can be comfortable during his work stays. From their website: “The LCI cabin project took eight work parties, 64 volunteers, and 318 volunteer hours to complete.” And that time included the task of transporting the kit to the building site.


Building a cabin on Little Chebeague Island
This Home Office will be used as housing for the caretaker of Little Chebeague Island.

Get Involved

We are ecstatic that our contribution helped MITA raise the funds needed to achieve this goal. Interested in visiting Little Chebeague Island, or learning about volunteering with the Maine Island Trail Association? Visit MITA.org for more information. Use Coupon Code JCS2022 for 10% off your membership with MITA.

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One of the biggest challenges that THOW owners face is finding a reliable place to park their homes. Buying a plot of land for your home base is an excellent idea. But if you are yearning for a nomadic lifestyle, you may want to keep your options open.



8x20 Tiny House on Wheels Turn Key
This tiny home was a custom build for a customer who was going to live on a farm.

You can save cash by hitting up friends and family when you are in between spots. However, you don’t want to overstay your welcome. We put together this list of resources where you can find places to park your tiny house while exploring the world.


Parking at Campgrounds

Tiny House on Wheels with a porch, built for off-grid living.
This tiny house on wheels was custom built with lots of extra insulated windows, and a cross gable roof line.

Most campgrounds across North America offer RV lots. Because tiny homes are similar to RV’s, they can usually utilize campsites. Most campgrounds provide short-term rentals during late spring through early fall. But some places will do long-term rentals all year long. Campgrounds are affordable, safe, and usually have all of the amenities close at hand.


Electrical and running water hookups are common for RV sites. And most campgrounds have dumping tanks for getting rid of waste. Or use common bathroom areas to save on wear on tear on your tiny home plumbing system. On-site laundry machines, a general store, Wi-Fi, swimming pools, and access to fun activities are some deluxe features you might find in a campground too.
In some cases, you might be able to do a work exchange with the campground for free or discounted rent. It could be office work, cleanups, or filling in for vacationing workers.


Parking at Farms

Working farms are other areas where you might exchange labor for free rent. We have sold tiny homes to several farmhands. While many farms provide housing for their workers, it isn’t always ideal. Those who crave privacy and comfort may prefer to rest in a four-season tiny home on wheels during their spare time.


https://wwoofusa.org/ offers a database of over 1500 organic host farms looking for a helping hand. Many farms need help in planting, harvesting, livestock care, maintenance, deliveries, and administrative tasks.


tiny home village
A tiny home village or RV lot can be an option for long term parking.

Tiny House Parking in Villages & Mobile Home Lots

Thoroughly cleaning out your building is a top winter greenhouse maintenance tip. Freshen up your greenhouse by giving it a Tiny house villages are popping up all around the nation. The people who set up these small communities handle zoning and permits to develop the land for this purpose. Hookups for utilities should be standard, but always confirm what is included with the monthly fee before signing a lease. Mobile home lots have been around for a long time and are well established. Tiny home villages are less common but will provide a homier vibe while you are surrounded by other THOW enthusiasts. Lots can usually be found via newspaper classified ads, craigslist, or in directories.


Directories

If you are flexible directories can provide ever-changing lists of available lots.


• Tiny House Villages - this website offers a directory of over 250 lots that cater to tiny living. You can filter by price, location, and lifestyle requirements.

• Tiny House Hosting Facebook Group - This online community averages 50 posts a month. Many people seem to be searching for places, while others are sharing their available lots. It can't hurt to ask for parking opportunities in specific areas.

• Tiny House Communities - A small, but well curated list of nice places to park.


Conclusion

As you explore these parking options, document your travels with a journal. Keep track of where you stayed, how much you paid for rentals and utility costs, and rate how much you enjoyed each location. You can use this information to decide if you want to return or remember which areas to avoid. Having contact information for your hosts can be very useful if you find yourself in a tight spot and need to find someplace quick. Grow your community, be neighborly to those you meet along the way, and you shouldn’t have trouble finding places to park.



Did we miss a resource that you think we should share? Let us know!


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If you have looked at any of our sheds and cottages and tiny houses, or flipped through a set of our DIY building plans, you would have seen that we use post and beam framing techniques in our builds. Why? It's because it is an age-old carpentry technique that has stood the test of time.


A post and beam timber frame being erected on top of a pier foundation.
Our Vermont Cabin utilizes mortise & tenon framing techniques.

Visit Stonehenge to see an example of an ancient structure built with stone posts and beams. Another classic example comes from the Amish, who are famous for raising timber frame barns. With the increasing demand for rustic-style homes, you can now find post and beam framing making a big comeback. Create an interesting interior with an exposed timber frame inside. The posts, beams and angle braces tie into both modern and antique interior decorating. Plus, did we mention how sturdy this framing style is? In our humble opinion, it’s the best!


Anatomy of a Post and Beam Building

Our designs start with conventional building techniques. A floor system contains skids and joists, or a treated sill plate. Rafters, a ridge pole, and collar ties frame the roof. Posts and beams tie into the wall framing.


Posts are the vertical pieces of lumber that support the horizontal beams.


Angle braces provide additional support from the posts to the beams.


Horizontal nailers installed several feet from the floor, and between posts, set up an extra point for fastening siding.


We utilize a few different techniques for building our post and beam structures, depending on the design. So, here we’ll talk about a few of those.


Half-Lap Joints

An example of how our post and beam walls are framed out.

Our storage sheds, mid-sized garages, and small cottages are the simplest of our designs. We build the posts, beams and angle braces with true-dimensional, 4x4 rough sawn hemlock lumber. We cut the ends of the beams in a way that allows two boards to lap over each other. Then the boards are nailed to the posts, along with the angle braces. The half-lap joint sits right on top of the post, for the strongest point of contact. A 4x4 piece of lumber weighs much less than our stockier boards, so one or two strong people can lift these pieces without machinery.


Box Beams

Diagram of a box beam on top of posts and angle braces.

This type of beam is installed on our Simple Garages. Because we build those garages with 6x6 hemlock posts, we need a thicker beam to hold up the massive roof. With a box beam post and beam structure, the post will have a 2-inch by 12-inch tenon notched out at the top. We sandwich this tenon between two 2x12 hemlock boards to create the beam. Next, the two box beams and tenons are secured together with a 2x6 top plate. The result is a box beam that is 6x14 inches in dimension. There is no denying that this hefty beam is fantastic. 


Mortise & Tenon aka Timber Frame

We designed our timber frames so that they are built with true-dimensional 8x8 hemlock lumber. We offer three buildings that utilize this framing technique. These buildings include the Vermont Cabin, Two Bay Garage, and 20x30 and 20x40 Sugar Shacks. Also, we sell Porch, overhang, or enclosure kit add-ons.



With these frames, the posts and angle braces have tenons. To create a tenon, we notch a protrusion out of the lumber. This locks together with a mortise. Mortises are notched-out holes that fit over the tenons. You will find mortises in the posts where the loft floor beams and angle braces connect to them. Wall beams also have mortises. They make contact with the posts, along with the floor joists. We utilize half laps in the beams, and like our smaller frames, these joints sit on top of the post. Finally, we secure everything together with ¾” wooden timber pegs.


Vermont Cabin with a built in porch, custom decorative cupola, and sliding glass doors.

Conclusion

Many shed and cottage companies use panelized or stick-built techniques. In many cases, these styles can be just fine. But there is a reason you don’t hear about historic buildings discovered that use these building styles—they just don't stand the test of time! If you are looking for a robust cabin, post and beam is the way to go. Setting up a house frame where the lumber interlocks together, with the siding added after, ensures a durable structure.


Looking for something roomier than what we offer? Visit our parent company, WHS Homes brands, Timber Peg and American Post & Beam for more post and beam construction styles.  


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Our Gibraltar is an affordable tiny home that can be purchased as a four-season kit.

Once you have your mind set on your next building project, whether it’s a tiny house, deluxe shed, or large, two-car garage, you will need to figure out how to pay for it. If you, like many, are someone whose pockets aren’t overflowing with cash it is still possible to reach your post and beam building goals. All it takes is some creativity, planning, patience, common sense, and time. But there are also a number of budgeting tricks, and hacks that can get you ahead of the game. We're sharing with you our top tips for financing a new building. Try putting all, or just a few, of these tips into practice and you might end up with a Jamaica Cottage Shop village in no time!


1. Automate Your Savings

Setting up a savings account is a no-brainer, but we are all tempted to spend our paychecks on new clothing, electronics, cars, and restaurants on top of our usual bills. Moving a portion of your funds into a savings account makes spending that money a little less convenient. It forces you to think about frivolous purchases, since you probably have to take a few more steps to access that money. Most banks have systems where you can transfer a set dollar amount on recurring days. Have your bank account transfer money into your savings account every payday: we suggest trying to put away 10% of your income into your savings account. If that big a percentage sounds daunting, start with a smaller amount. A little is better than nothing, and maybe seeing your savings grow over time will motivate you to put away more!


If you are lacking in the willpower department, you might consider opening a secondary bank account at an online bank. That money will be out of sight and out of mind. Plus, it will be even less convenient to make withdrawals since a transfer to your main checking account will probably take a few days instead of a few minutes. If you think this is a good option, make sure you compare banks beforehand and choose one that offers the highest interest savings account you can find!


2. Start With the Small Stuff

The Homesteader is a budget friendly tiny home option that comes as a either a frame only, complete, 3-season or 4-season kit.
If you start with a 3-Season Kit your upfront costs will be a bit less than getting a 4-Season Kit, buying you time to save up money to finish the cabin out.

One way you can budget your build is to figure out how to minimize your upfront costs and expand your project as you go. Pick out a smaller design, or get a stripped down version. Some people opt to start with a small shed, for example. They might camp out in that while they are saving for a Vermont Cabin. Later on, when they move into their larger home, they can rent out their backyard cottage to pay off their projects.


Another idea is to try starting with a three season structure instead of buying a fully decked-out, turn-key cabin. Then you can buy insulation, interior wall sheathing, ceiling sheathing, and insulated windows. These items add up, but can be more manageable if purchased as needed. We also sell frame-only kits, which include the framing material. Buy siding, roofing, floor decking and doors as you go.


3. Half Now, Half Later

Did you know that we can get your project into production with a 50% deposit? This is an excellent option if you have most of the funds needed to get started, but need a few months to get the rest. The remainder isn’t due until right around the delivery time. Having a deadline can be very motivating for earning cash or finally getting around to applying for a loan. Contact our sales team. They can take your deposit over the phone.


4. Take Advantage of Supply and Demand

This small firewood storage shed doubles as recycling storage. This multipurpose function provides additional value.
Buying a woodbin in the winter might mean savings. Plus you will have it ready for next years firewood supply.

Changing seasons can mean savings! You may find that you can get great deals if you buy during the winter. This is because the demand drops quite a bit when the weather is chilly. People simply aren't as enthusiastic about starting outdoor projects when there is snow on the ground. Past patterns show that winter pricing on kits and prefab sheds is usually the lowest during the cold, snowy months. When spring rolls around, everyone is eager to get started on their projects. This means pricing for materials goes up and so do labor costs to pay employees’ overtime.


5. Follow Our Promotions

The best way to keep up to date on our sales is to join our Funky Chicken Newsletter. That's going to be the first, and in some cases only, place where we are going to publish new sales, discounted items, and coupons. Our Facebook business page will also be a good resource. If you don’t want to get emails from us, you can bookmark our sale flyer. We update that link every couple of weeks, so you can always peek at that to get pricing on our kits and fully assembled designs.


6. Barter for Services

In many places, you might be able to trade services you offer for painting, carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work. Someone who owns a construction business might need someone to design their business cards, or an electrician might be searching for someone to do some landscaping around their property. It might be hard to find people willing to do this, so look for community groups specializing in time trading.


Three friends work together to get their barn painted.
Turning your barn build into a community effort can be fun.

7.Bribe Your Friends and Family with Pizza

If you are buying a kit, you might be able to have a barn building party with your friends and family. Offer a tasty meal and fun music to entice your social circle to help. This could save money on carpentry costs. Just don’t forget to return the favor if they ever need a hand.


8. Apply for a Grant

This small, 3x5 foot shed, was purchased to use as a food pantry to help community members in need.
A local food pantry was in need of a shed, so they applied for grants and promoted other fundraising efforts.

If your building will be shared with your community, or you're constructing it for non-profit use, you may be able to apply for funding. For example, if you are setting up housing for Veterans, you could get involved with non-profits that focus on affordable housing. Energy-efficiency grants may also be available for homeowners who need help weatherizing their houses. While this won't necessarily pay for a building kit, it could take care of an expense that is holding you back. You can try searching a grant database if you don’t know where to start or check your state’s official .gov website.


9. Use a Credit Card

We wouldn’t say that this is a top tip, but there can be some pros when using a credit card, especially if you are savvy with money. Putting a big purchase on a new credit card that has a 0% interest term with no fees can help you delay the costs. If the card also comes with a good cashback program, you can use those rewards to pay for things you might need for your cottage or shed later on. Make sure you can sustainably make monthly payments, and plan ahead for when the 0% interest period expires. That's the time when you'll want to pay off the bulk of your purchase. If you aren't careful with remembering the final pay off, you could end up in debt! We recommend this option for people who have predictable incomes and can budget to make sure they have enough saved at the end of the 0% interest period to make a large payment.


10. Utilize Our Financing Partners

We've partnered with a handful of companies that offer solutions for purchasing fully assembled buildings and Pre-Cut Kits. You can finance some, or in many cases all of your project by working with these partners. If you are in the process of improving your credit score, the rent-to-own option will make it possible to purchase a fully assembled building without a credit check.


Conclusion

Our community is made up of people from all walks of life, and they are some of the best resources we have for finding clever ways to finance post and beam buildings. We hope that these budgeting tips will help you on your path to building the cottage, shed, garage, or tiny house of your dreams. Let us know if you have other tips for budgeting your project that we can pass on to our readers. It's our mission to make our products as attainable and accessible as possible to everyone!


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Two dog house dormers were built on the roof of this Vermont Cabin.

You have seen them on cute Victorian cottages, traditional colonial homes, and other types of buildings. A dormer is a structure that is built projecting out of the roof of a building. It will usually have wall space for windows and might have a different pitch from the main roof, and/or a roofline that is perpendicular to the main roof. They are eye-catching and can turn a drab building into something quite fabulous. Let us take you through all of the reasons that dormers are so great.


Gain Headspace

Some of our designs, like the Smithaven cottage, have lower wall heights. Other cabins have lofts with just enough room to crouch in some spots. Including a dormer in your design provides extra vertical space. This gives you room to stretch, or at the very least, room to stand in. Tall bookshelves and closets built into a dormer create storage space for clothing, linens, books and other knick-knacks. Here is an example of a finished loft without a dormer, and one with a shed dormer.


Vermont Cabin loft without dormers
Vermont Cabin loft with a shed dormer

Bring in the Sunlight

Lofts usually have shorter walls, meaning the only available space for windows is in the gable end of the building. This usually results in limited natural light coming in. Are you using the loft as a sleeping area? A dormer will provide space for additional windows to remedy a normally darker space.


Add Some Pizazz

A standard, gabled-roof cabin provides a certain charm in its simplicity. But your cabin can get a double-take by adding one or more dormers. With this purpose in mind, the structural form of the dormer differs from the overall roofline, the architectural interest will catch most peoples’ eyes. Depending on the dormer style you add, you can make your building look more traditional or modern too.


Types of Dormers

If you are building a Vermont Cabin we offer two dormer kit styles that work with the building kits when ordered and shipped at the same time.


Doghouse Dormer

  • Gable-Roof Style
  • One window can be installed in each dormer
  • People usually add two or three of these dormers on one or two sides of the cabin.

Shed Dormer

  • Shed-Roof Style
  • This wider dormer style can host several windows
  • Great for creating more usable space in a loft

Doghouse dormer on a Vermont Cabin
Custom Shed Dormer with Windows
Shed dormer on a Vermont Cabin

Other Designs That Utilize Dormers

While we only offer a dormer kit for the Vermont Cabin, we do have a couple designs that feature dormers as part of the overall design. The Smithaven is a micro cottage based off of our Hardware Shed. We lengthened the building and added a shed dormer on one of the bearing walls. Three barn sash windows, with a transom window above, adorn the heightened wall of the dormer. The result is an adorable tiny house with a lot of personality.


Our Dollhouse shed and Xylia cabin both have over-the-door dormers. The door dormers for both of these are visually appealing and functional. Both designs have steeper roof pitches resulting in shorter wall heights. Adding a dormer where the door goes makes it possible for a full-sized adult to walk through the door without bumping their head on the door frame.


  • Smithaven with cottage dormer
    The Smithaven is designed with a shed dormer built into it.
  • Dollhouse with above the door dormer
  • 12x16 Xylia with Artisan-blown Glass Roundel with a colorful swirl
    Xylia with above the door dormer

Conclusion

Those who want a building that includes design features that are functional and beautiful might want to pick out a design with a dormer. Additionally, dormers provide more useable space in a loft, where wall heights are usually on the short side. Last but not least, dormers provide a unique, simple style to your cottage. All in all the benefits of dormers are vast and we think they are pretty nifty.